TSINANDALI FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES THIRD SUCCESSIVE ANNUAL FESTIVAL SINCE ITS FOUNDING IN 2019 FROM THE HEART OF GEORGIA’S STUNNING WINE COUNTRY, TSINANDALI FESTIVAL PRESENTS SOME OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST MUSICIANS 8 – 19 SEPTEMBER ©Tsinandali Festival • Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra presents five major programmes with conductors Gianandrea Noseda - the Festival’s Music Director -, Christoph Eschenbach, Lahav Shani & Pinchas Zukerman • Soloists include Lisa Batiashvili, Yefim Bronfman, Christoph Eschenbach, Matthias Goerne, Thomas Hampson, Mikhail Pletnev, Thomas Quasthoff, Vadim Repin, András Schiff, Lahav Shani & Pinchas Zukerman No artistic organisation has been immune to the global pandemic, but Georgia’s Tsinandali Festival has shown resilience typical of the country and its history. While last year’s Festival was more concise than originally planned, concerts with audiences were presented with leading artists such as Martha Argerich coming to Tsinandali to enjoy its unique atmosphere in the open-air auditorium. This year the Festival is presenting a full programme over a 12-day period with many great musicians returning to the Tsinandali Festival to show their solidarity with the Festival and reaffirm it as one of the world’s leading festivals. When the Tsinandali Festival was launched in 2019 at the historic Tsinandali Estate in the heart of Georgia’s wine country, two new auditoria were built including a large outdoor auditorium where all the main evening concerts are presented. The Festival opens with Rachmaninoff’s third Piano Concerto and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé played by the Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Lahav Shani, with pianist Yefim Bronfman. Gianandrea Noseda, the Festival’s Music Director, and the Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra perform works by Schumann and Mendelssohn with pianist Mikhail Pletnev (16 September) as well as the finale to the Festival with Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 and Saint-Saëns’ Violin Concerto No. 3 played with Georgian-born violinist Lisa Batiashvili. The rest of the Festival lives up to its reputation of hosting the best a Festival can offer including: Christoph Eschenbach conducting and as pianist; Pinchas Zukerman conducting and as a violinist; pianists Elena Bashkirova, Yefim Bronfman, Mao Fujita, Mikhail Pletnev, Sergei Redkin, Fazil Say, András Schiff and Lahav Shani; violinists Lisa Batiashvili, Marc Bouchkov and Vadim Repin; cellists Amanda Forsyth and Alexander Ramm; flautist Stathis Karapanos; baritones Matthias Goerne and Thomas Hampson, plus Thomas Quasthoff and his jazz group. Securing these artists and devising programming that fully captures what a festival should be – the coming together of great artists to perform together in differing groupings – is due to the Festival’s two Artistic Directors, Martin Engstroem and Avi Shoshani who commented: “It’s testament to many people that this year’s Tsinandali Festival is able to take place – our thanks go to the artists, the audiences, our supporters and above all to the local team headed-up by David Sakvarelidze whose collective loyalty to George Ramishvili’s vision for a world-class Festival remains as strong as ever.” The health and safety of participating artists and audience members is the Festival’s highest priority. Georgia’s government guidelines and high levels of hygiene will be adhered to throughout the course of the Festival. Please see the full programme below. For more information and for ticket availability please visit Tsinandali’s website: www.tsinandalifestival.ge and Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/tsinandalifestival All press enquiries to Simon Millward at Premier PR, [email protected] Editor’s Notes Gianandrea Noseda Gianandrea Noseda is one of the world’s most sought-after conductors, equally recognized for his artistry in both the concert hall and the opera house. He was named Washington D.C.’s National Symphony Orchestra’s seventh music director in 2016 beginning his tenure in the fall of 2017; his contract has been renewed until the 2024/25 season. In addition to his positions with the National Symphony Orchestra and the Tsinandali Festival, Noseda also serves as Principal Guest Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Principal Conductor of the Orquestra de Cadaqués, and Artistic Director of the Stresa Festival in Italy. In July 2018, the Zurich Opera House appointed him the next General Music Director beginning in the 2021–2022 season where the centrepiece of his tenure will be a new Ring Cycle. Martin Engstroem Founder and Executive Director of the Verbier Festival, Martin Engstroem has worked with every major musician of our time. In addition to founding and running the Verbier Festival, Engstroem has held senior roles as an artist manager, as a consultant or executive for Rolex, EMI France, the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, the Opéra National de Paris, Deutsche Grammophon and IMG Artists. An in-demand jury member for numerous competitions he is also a member of several Boards, including the Béjart Ballet, Lausanne, the Macao Festival, the Tibor Varga Academy, Sion and the Glion Institut de Hautes Etudes. In April 2015, he received the Dmitri Shostakovich Prize, considered to be one of the most prestigious prizes in the field of Russian art. He is the first non-musician laureate of this Prize. In 2018 he became Artistic Director both of the Tsinandali Festival in Georgia and of the Riga Jurmala Music Festival in Latvia. Avi Shoshani Secretary General of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, an organisation he joined in 1973 and which he has transformed into a major international orchestra. Shoshani has been responsible for all aspects of the Orchestra’s artistic policy, international touring and securing close relationships with many of the world’s greatest musicians. A passionate advocate of musical education he has initiated several education programmes in Israel. As Co-Founder of the Verbier Festival and Academy, he served as Artistic Director for the Festival’s first 10 years and continues to be an Artistic Consultant to the Festival. George Ramishvili George Ramishvili is Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Silknet and founder, shareholder and chairman of Silk Road Group, a diversified group with a portfolio of investments in transportation and logistics, telecommunication, banking, real estate, tourism and energy in the Caspian and Central Asian region with a focus on Georgia. George, an entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in starting-up and successfully running new companies, was the President of the Georgian Ski Federation for several years and is still supporting development of winter sports in Georgia. George is also a member of the international boards of several artistic and cultural organizations, a chairman of the board of National Geographic Georgia (the Licensee of National Geographic in Georgia), a chairman of the Board of the Tsinandali Festival and a member of the International Board of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. FESTIVAL SCHEDULE 8 September 19.00: Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3; Ravel Daphnis et Chloé (2nd Suite) Yefim Bronfman, piano Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra Lahav Shani, conductor 9 September 12.00: Beethoven Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor, Cello Sonata No. 2 in G minor & The Piano Trio Op. 97 “Archduke Trio” Lahav Shani, piano Pinchas Zukerman, violin Amanda Forsyth, cello 19.00: Bach Goldberg Variations András Schiff, piano 10 September 11.00: Program tbc Matthias Goerne, baritone Christoph Eschenbach, piano 19.00: Program tbc Yefim Bronfman, piano 11 September 12.00: Program tbc Stathis Karapanos, flute Pianist tbc 19.00: Brahms Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor & Symphony No. 4 Pinchas Zukerman, violin Amanda Forsyth, cello Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra Christoph Eschenbach, conductor 12 September 11.00: Schumann 6 Poems and Requiem (1850) Op. 90 & Zwölf Gedichte von Justinus Kerner (1840) Op. 35 Thomas Hampson, baritone András Schiff, piano 19.00: “FOR YOU!” Thomas Quasthoff, voice & moderator Simon Oslender, piano Dieter Ilg, double bass Wolfgang Haffner, drums 13 September 12.00: Franck Piano Trio No. 1 in F sharp minor Op. 1/1 (1840); Brahms Piano Trio in B major Op. 8 Marc Bouchkov, violin Alexander Ramm, cello Mao Fujita, piano 19.00: Mahler 6 Songs from “Des Knaben Wunderhorn”; Beethoven Violin Concerto Mathias Goerne, baritone Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra Pinchas Zukerman, conductor 14 September 12.00: Brahms Violin Sonata in G major No. 1; Franck Violin Sonata Marc Bouchkov, violin Mao Fujita, piano 19.00: Beethoven Violin Sonata in A major Op. 47 “Kreutzer”; Tchaikovsky Piano Trio Vadim Repin, violin Sergei Redkin, piano Amanda Forsyth, cello 15 September 12.00: Mozart Piano Sonata No. 9 in D major K. 31; Brahms 2 Rhapsodies Op. 79; Strauss Sonata in B minor Op. 5 Mao Fujita, piano 19.00: Program tbc Thomas Hampson, baritone Elena Bashkirova, piano 16 September 12.00: Schubert Piano Trio in B flat Op. 99; Schumann Quartet for violin, viola, cello and piano in E flat major Op. 47 Marc Bouchkov, violin Blythe Teh Engstroem, viola Alexander Ramm, cello Elena Bashkirova, piano 19.00: Schumann Piano Concerto; Mendelssohn Symphony No. 4 Mikhail Pletnev, piano Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra Gianandrea Noseda, conductor 17 September 12.00: Mendelssohn Cello Sonata in D major, Britten Suite for Cello No. 1, Martinu Rossini variations Alexander Ramm, cello Sergei Redkin, piano 17.00: Chopin 13 Mazurkas & Sonata No. 3 in B minor Op. 58 Mikhail Pletnev, piano 18 September 12.00: Program tbc Lisa Batiashvili, violin 19.00: Couperin 21. Order & Suite in E minor; Debussy Suite bergamesque; Say Troy Sonata Fazil Say, piano 19 September 12.00: Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition; Piano Sonata No. 7 Sergei Redkin, piano 19.00: Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto No. 3; Dvořák Symphony No. 8 Lisa Batiashvili, violin Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra Gianandrea Noseda, conductor For more information on the Festival please visit: www.tsinandalifestival.ge .